Presently, there are devices available that automatically feed a nut or other fastener to a fixed position tool, which is rigidly mounted inside a fixture and to which a particular work piece must be brought and aligned therewith. However, such a device is highly impractical in industries where assemblies or sub-assemblies are proceeding down an assembly line, thereby making it practically impossible to align the assembly with the rigidly mounted tool. For example, in the automotive industry, entire car or truck sub-assemblies proceed down an assembly line and may require an operator to secure several fasteners in multiple locations on the assembly. In cases such as these, manufacturers have typically implemented hand-held fastening tools for driving a bolt or nut or other fastener onto the particular assembly. However, the present automatic feeders cannot work with these fastening tools, so the fastener must be manually started on its respective mating fastener or it must be manually loaded into a magnetic socket on the fastening tool, and then in both cases be driven to the proper location or torque on the assembly or sub-assembly.
In order to assist an operator using a hand held drive tool, automatic parts feeding systems have been developed which supply nuts and/or bolts or other fasteners in a desired orientation to a particular location along the assembly line. This eases the process of installing the fastener at its location on the assembly or sub-assembly, as the operator may pick up the fastener while it is in its proper orientation, thereby easing the starting of the fastener onto its mating fastener. However, the fastener still must be picked up by hand and either manually started on the mating fastener or manually located into the magnetic socket of the fastening tool, before the fastener may be driven onto its mating fastener by the drive tool. The process of manually starting the fastener onto a mating fastener or manually loading the fastener into a magnetic socket on the drive tool is not only difficult for an assembly line operator to consistently accomplish, but also takes a substantial amount of time, during which the assembly or sub-assembly is continuously moving along the assembly line. Therefore, the line speeds must be adjusted to allow for the additional time for the line worker to manually start or load the fasteners, thereby increasing the assembly time for the particular product being assembled.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an automatic device that effectively provides the connection between automatic feed systems and hand held or movable fastening and torque monitoring equipment. The device should be able to be used with pneumatic and hand held fastening tools to eliminate the manual starting or loading of the fastener by the operator. The device should further be able to supply the fastener to the tool in an efficient manner so that the device may be used in a production setting where production volumes are high and the fasteners must be quickly secured to the assembly or sub-assembly as it moves along an assembly line. Furthermore, the device should supply and hold the fastener in a proper alignment to ease engagement with the mating fastener on the work piece and substantially preclude cross threading between the two corresponding fasteners.